Ambrosia

Ambrosia salad

Ambrosia is a greek word meaning immortality. It was often considered the food or drink of the Greek gods. Ambrosia is often thought to help offer longevity or immortality. Mythology shares stories where ambrosia was brought to the gods in Olympus by doves. We learned a lot about this while I was helping my oldest son in an assignment for Advanced English. We not only had to create an essay but also create a dish related to the essay in some manner. 

Ambrosia is also one of my husbands favorite dishes. It is a traditional fruit salad that may contain pineapple, mandarin oranges, marshmallows and coconut. There are many different of Ambrosia some may contain cherries, bananas, strawberries, grapes or pecans. A creamy ingredient helps put the salad together whether it be cream cheese, whipped cream, sour cream, pudding ,yogurt or cottage cheese. Ambrosia is often chilled several hours or overnight before serving.

1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon sugar
4 ounces sour cream
1 cup chopped fresh pineapple
1 cup freshly grated coconut
1 cup toasted, chopped pecans, optional
1/2 cup drained maraschino cherries
1 15 oz. can fruit cocktail drained
1 8-oz. can pineapple chunks,  drained
1 11-oz. can mandarin oranges, drained
3 C. miniature marshmallows – optional

Place the cream and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer  whip until stiff peaks are formed.
Add the sour cream and whisk to combine.
Add the marshmallows, fruit cocktail, mandarins, pineapple, coconut, pecans and cherries and stir to combine.
Transfer to a glass serving bowl, cover and chill 2 hours before serving.